Our co-pending application Ser. No. 939,261 discloses a medium or dress weight sock which may be comfortably worn with dress shoes and wherein fine terry loops are provided in the heel and sole area to provide the sock with the cushion and comfort characteristics of the type normally provided in heavy weight athletic type socks. This sock is knit on a fine gauge ladies' hosiery circular knitting machine of the type normally provided with approximately 400 latch needles and the sock is knit on alternate needles so that it contains only about 200 wales instead of the normal 400 wales contained in ladies' sheer hosiery articles of the type normally knit on this type of machine. The terry loops formed in the heel and sole area are formed on dial instruments projected outwardly over the idle needles so that unusually long terry loops are formed of a fine staple absorbent yarn with the terry loops being formed at least three to five times or more as long as the stitch loops formed of the body yarn to provide a very fine and lightweight "cushion" along the lower portion of the foot of the wearer.
The sock disclosed in out co-pending application Ser. No. 939,261 has the cushion and comfort characteristics of an athletic sock and is of sufficiently light weight that it may be worn with dress shoes. However, the leg of this sock does not have the ribbed appearance which is characteristic of most dress socks. Also, the amount of stretch in the heel area is the same as the amount of stretch in the remainder of the sock because the sock is knit with full complete courses throughout.